Connecter



April 17, 1934- A. A. BERNDT I1,955,528

CONNECTER Filed Sept. 26. 1930 i e* M' WHill!HlmulllllllulllllllllllllllilllllllllllllllljlllllllllllllllllllllIl f\1\ www N m uw, un" unumlwuuummgi uuunuumnunnmmmulluum M W Patented `repre, M2, ifientrarerging Appiication September 26, 1230, Smial No. 454,486

l Claim.

io and which will not cut or materially injure the' conductors.

Another object of the invention is to provide a connecter comprising acasing and gripping means, the casing having a formation whereby thegripl ping means are retained therein in operative relation so that theconnecter forms a unitary device.

Yet another object is to provide ay coupling for connecting wires andthe like including a casing 2o and gripping means, the casing having aformation locking the gripping means therein whereby the device isunitary having no separable parts nor screws requiring manipulation andwhich can easily become lost.

Yet another object is to provideja connecter of the kind described whichwill be simple in construction, economical to manufacture and which willmeet all requirements of service and operation.

With these and various other objects in view, the invention may consistof certain novel features of construction and operation as will be morefully described and particularly pointed out in the specification,drawing and claim ap- 35 pended hereto.

In the drawing, which illustrates an embodiment of the device andwherein like reference characters are used to designate like parts-Figure l is an elevational view of a length of 4o tubing from which thecasing of the connecter is formed;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the means employed forspinning the ends of the tubing to form the tapered end portions;

Figure 3 is an elevational view showing the completed connecter;

Figure 4i is a sectional view taken along line 4--4 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken substantially 5o through the centerof the connecter and showing the gripping members in operative relation;and

Figure 6 is a view showing the gripping members and the resilient memberin disassembled relation.

Referring particularly to Figure 5 the connecter is shown as comprisinga casing or housing 10 having tapering end portions l2 and llirespectively and end openings 16 and 18 of a diameter substantially lessthan the diameter of the casing at a point substantially central of the6@ same. For purposes which will be presently described, thecross-sectional area of the walls of the casing 10 are materiallygreater at points in the vicinity of 20 and 22 than the cross-sectionalarea of the walls intermediate these points.

Located within the casing l0 are a plurality of gripping members 2ehaving a wedge shaped formation, as more clearly shown in Figure 6, andwhich are formed with a trough or groove eX- tending lengthwise of Ithemembers, the groove being suitably roughened by means of teeth 26. Thegroove formed in the members and provided with teeth is for the purposeof securely gripping the vconductor wires which is accomplished by theteeth 26 embedding themselves into the surface of the wires, the teethhowever being sufficiently minute so as not to sever the wires or damagethe same in any manner. The gripping members 2e are formed of anysuitable metal having a rnedium hard surface and are assembled withinthe 3U casing 10 in sets of three, a set having a trusteconical shapefor engaging the inner walls of the end portions i2 and 14 respectively.It is of course, understood that the members 24; can be so formed thattwo or four or even tive of the 3J members would be necessary to formwhen assembled a complete set having a frusto-conical shape which wouldfunction in the same manner as the sets disclosed. For maintaining thesets of gripping members in' spaced relation and in contact with thetapering walls a coil spring 28 is provided adapted to engage the innersurface of the members to thus force the same into engagement with thetapered walls of the end portions. r With the elements located withinthe casing l0, as shown in Figure 5', it isV only necessary to insert aconductor 30 into the opening 16 in one end oi the casing and aconductor 32 into the opening 18 at the opposite end of the casing, tothus form a solderless joint of high conductivity. It will be seen thatthe conductors are firmly gripped by the members 24. and any tensionapplied to the conductors 30 and 32 will function to increase theintensity of the gripping relationship, since the members are forcedinto engagement with the tapering walls of the end portions and thusfurther embed the teeth 26 into the surface of the conductors. 'll`heresilient member 2S functions to maintain the gripping members inoperative and spaced relationship so that prior to the time theconnecter is associated with conductors or wires the parts within thecasing are maintained in operative relation. Also, it will be seen thatthe connecter comprisesa unitary device having no screw threaded membersto become separated and by reason of the tapered end portions thegripping members are locked within the casing so that the connecter,when once assembled, cannot get out of order and is ready for use at alltimes since it requires no special tools.

The casing 10 is formed from a length of metal tubing 34, as shown inFigure 1, which is imperforate and of a substantially uniform diamete/throughout its length. The first step in the formation of the casing 10is to spin one end of the tubing 34 so as to form the end portion intotatapering or frusto-conical portion and, as shown in Figure 2, this stepis accomplished by the use of a suitable die or forming member 36 havingan,

opening of tapering form, such as is required to\ give the necessarytaper to the end portions.

An important feature resulting from the spinning operation is theincreased cross-sectional area' given to the Walls of the casing in thevicinity of the points 20 and 22, as compared to the cross-sectionalarea of the Walls intermediate these points. The thickened walls arelocated at the extreme outer ends of the casing 10 so that theseportions of the casing have increased strength to withstand the ,strainimparted to them by the members 24, by reason of thetension placed uponthe conductor wires. tubing 34 to produce the tapering end portionsresults in increasing the cross-sectional area of the casing at thesepoints, the surplus metal being due to the fact that the diameter of thetube at its ends is materially reduced while no elongation of the sameis allowed to take place,

The spinning of the the completed casing 10 having substantially thesame length as the tubing 34, from which it is Thus the completedcasing, as shown in Figure 3,

has the parts housed within the same and locked therein, as the diameterof the openings -16 and /18 are suicient to prevent the members 24 frombeing removed from the casing.

It is to be understood that I do not wish to be limited by the exactembodiment of the device shown, which is merely by way of illustrationand not limitation, as various and other forms of the device will ofcourse be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing fromthe spirit of the invention or the scope of the claim.

I claim:

A connecter for connecting wires and the like comprising a casing formedfrom an integral piece of metal tubing, the end portions of said tubingbeing reduced in diameter to form tapering end portions, said casinghaving end openings for the insertion of Wires into the casing, thewalls of the end portions adjacent the openings be'ng of increasedthickness, and means housed in the casing for holding the wires againstoutward movement comprising, sets of Wedge members located in andengaging the walls of each tapering end portion, and a coil springlocated between the sets of wedge members for holding them in spacedrelation and in contact with the tapering walls of the end portions.

ARTHUR A. BERNDT.

